#Kawasaki

Our Australian correspondent, Jeff Ware, was blessed with the jackpot of motojournalist opportunities: testing an important new superbike-class contender ahead of its official world launch event. Ware, author of our recent 1980s Turbo Bike Shootout and the test of a Cagiva 500cc Grand Prix racer, is one of just five journalists to have spun laps of Oz’s Wakefield Park circuit on Kawasaki’s latest ZX-10R, the most exciting new regular-production sportbike of 2016. Ware says he expected improvements, but what he experienced was stunning. —Kevin Duke

Kawasaki released its second concept sketch depicting a possible future for its motorcycle supercharger technology. Revealed at EICMA, the Soul Charger concept reveals a naked roadster with the now familiar red supercharger behind the Inline-Four’s cylinder bank.

In Europe, the Kawasaki model we know as the ZX-14 is called the ZZR1400, and there are two versions: the standard and the high-spec Performance Sport model. At EICMA 2015, Kawasaki announced small, but significant changes to the line, though it is still unclear if or when these changes will be implemented on U.S. ZX-14s.

Borrowing the looks and design of its bigger brother, the J300 (which itself is a re-branded Kymco Downtown 300i), Kawasaki’s smaller-displacement version, the J125, basically keeps all the amenities of the 300, but replaces the engine with one less than half its displacement to better meet the needs of the European market. The engine is still mated to a CVT, for true twist-and-go rideability.

It has been a year now since Kawasaki strung us along with what seemed like endless teaser videos for its Ninja H2 and Ninja H2R superbikes. Let’s revisit what made them so popular. Boasting 998cc from its inline-Four, the H2 brethren represents Kawasaki’s flagship motorcycle. Let’s not forget the supercharger attached to both models, giving them a healthy amount of torque without the need for an intercooler. The trellis frame, Brembo M50 brakes, and traction control, among other things, helped the H2 line handle about as well as it accelerated.

Almost two years to the month, we took our first ride aboard Kawasaki’s new-gen Z1000 ABS ( 2014 Kawasaki Z1000 ABS – First Ride). We were initially impressed, scoring the Z1K a 93% in its single-bike review. Then came our 2014 Streetfighter Shootouts ( 2014 Super Naked Street Brawl, 2014 Super Streetfighter Smackdown) where the Z rounded out the bottom. In all fairness, the Z1K was matched against the most exotic of European nakeds boasting more performance and costlier prices. Even then the Z1K nearly stole third-place podium finishes from the Ducati Monster 1200S.

Recently, we had the chance to sample the 2016 Kawasaki Z800 ABS at its U.S. introduction in Palm Springs, California. I approached the bike from a unique perspective, as I had already ridden it in Europe, where it was introduced in 2013. I came back impressed with the bike during my short track stint with it, but had no idea how it behaved on the street. I figured I wouldn’t get a chance to find out, as this was one of the many bikes available in other markets that I’d never get to sample on home soil. Luckily for me, I was wrong (a feeling I’m more than used to … sigh). Kawasaki has seen growth in the American market for mid-displacement standards, and figured the time was right to bring the Z800 here. So quick were Team Green to bring the baby Zed to the States, that it didn’t even bother to tweak it for CARB compliance in the Golden State: For $8,400 Kawasaki will give you a brand new 2016 Z800 ABS and a dollar back in change. Unless you live in California, in which case you’re out of luck.

Its 2:23 am and I am lying in bed wide awake. I have my hotel window open and I am listening to the rain coming down. Just two weeks earlier if you’d  told me I was going to be in a tiny hotel room in Alcaniz, Spain, I would have laughed. But that’s where I am, and I am filled with so many different emotions. Different emotions because I am here as a guest to ride World Superbike Champion Jonathan Rea’s Kawasaki at one of my favorite tracks, Aragon.

I have a confession to make: I rode the Kawasaki Z800 in 2013, long before its U.S. introduction in Palm Springs, California this week. It was on a test track in Southern Italy during a new tire introduction, and despite the fact the track is not the Z800’s element – Kawasaki bills the baby Z as a streetfighter ideally suited for commuting or weekend blasts in the canyons – I came back pleasantly surprised. I remember the spread of power was impressive, the completely analog transmission shifted with buttery-smooth precision, the brakes never faded and the chassis was fluid and responsive. I wanted one but left Italy disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to get my hands on a Z800 stateside.

Motorcycle show season is now well underway with the second big show on the calendar, the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show. While AIMExpo had a powersports focus, the Tokyo show is a mixture of both automotive and motorcycle industries. And while the biggest new model announcements are typically reserved for EICMA, the Tokyo show has a reputation introducing some outrageous concepts as well as a few production models.

It’s time once again for AIMExpo in Orlando, Fla. We’ve got the latest announcements right here on MO including on-the-scene video reporting by Tom Roderick and ace shooter Chris Blanchette from the Orange County Convention Center.

Despite winning the 2015 World Superbike championship in dominant fashion with Jonathan Rea, and the 2013 title before that with Rea’s teammate Tom Sykes, Kawasaki isn’t resting on its laurels when it comes to its aging Ninja ZX-10R platform and today announced its successor in the 2016 Ninja ZX-10R. Since the current platform’s release in 2011, its European rivals have upped the bar in the literbike wars considerably, and with Yamaha’s introduction of the new YZF-R1 last year, the battle for literbike supremacy is tighter than ever. Now, Kawasaki believes it has a contender more than able to take on this stacked field.

With Kawasaki’s KX450F undergoing a complete redesign for 2016, apparently it wasn’t the KX250F’s turn to receive any love, as it is the only Japanese 250cc motocrosser not to receive any noteworthy upgrades for next racing season.

It’s a good time to be a motorcyclist. OEMs keep ratcheting up the amount of standard or optional technologies available on modern motorcycles. In just the last handful of years we’ve come to expect ABS, traction control, ride modes and slipper clutches as standard equipment. Cruise control is almost ubiquitous, and electronically adjustable suspension is gaining ground quickly. Five of the nine bikes in our Epic Sport-Adventure Shootout are equipped with semi-active suspension, one has electronically adjustable suspension, while only three are bereft of the technology.

Ah, the ’80s. The decade of Back To The Future, Night Rider, Michael Jackson, Culture Club, Madonna, big hair, vivid colors and digital watches. As a motorcyclist and fan of 1980s motorcycles, I’m most interested in the years ’82-’84. Why? Because it was the turbocharged era!